Effects of Dutch livestock production on human health and the environment

Observed multiple adverse effects of livestock production have led to increasing calls for more sustainable livestock production. Quantitative analysis of adverse effects, which can guide public debate and policy development in this area, is limited and generally scattered across environmental, human health, and other science domains. The aim of this study was to bring together and, where possible, quantify and aggregate the effects of national-scale livestock production on 17 impact categories, ranging from impacts of particulate matter, emerging infectious diseases and odor annoyance to airb... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Post, Pim M.
Hogerwerf, Lenny
Bokkers, Eddie A.M.
Baumann, Bert
Fischer, Paul
Rutledge-Jonker, Susanna
Hilderink, Henk
Hollander, Anne
Hoogsteen, Martine J.J.
Liebman, Alex
Mangen, Marie-Josée J.
Manuel, Henk Jan
Mughini-Gras, Lapo
van Poll, Ric
Posthuma, Leo
van Pul, Addo
Rutgers, Michiel
Schmitt, Heike
van Steenbergen, Jim
Sterk, Hendrika A.M.
Verschoor, Anja
de Vries, Wilco
Wallace, Robert G.
Wichink Kruit, Roy
Lebret, Erik
de Boer, Imke J.M.
Dokumenttyp: article/Letter to editor
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Schlagwörter: Animal production / Climate impact / Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) / Environmental impact / Livestock farming
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29457089
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/effects-of-dutch-livestock-production-on-human-health-and-the-env

Observed multiple adverse effects of livestock production have led to increasing calls for more sustainable livestock production. Quantitative analysis of adverse effects, which can guide public debate and policy development in this area, is limited and generally scattered across environmental, human health, and other science domains. The aim of this study was to bring together and, where possible, quantify and aggregate the effects of national-scale livestock production on 17 impact categories, ranging from impacts of particulate matter, emerging infectious diseases and odor annoyance to airborne nitrogen deposition on terrestrial nature areas and greenhouse gas emissions. Effects were estimated and scaled to total Dutch livestock production, with system boundaries including feed production, manure management and transport, but excluding slaughtering, retail and consumption. Effects were expressed using eight indicators that directly express Impact in the sense of the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response framework, while the remaining 14 express Pressures or States. Results show that livestock production may contribute both positively and negatively to human health with a human disease burden (expressed in disability-adjusted life years) of up to 4% for three different health effects: those related to particulate matter, zoonoses, and occupational accidents. The contribution to environmental impact ranges from 2% for consumptive water use in the Netherlands to 95% for phosphorus transfer to soils, and extends beyond Dutch borders. While some aggregation across impact categories was possible, notably for burden of disease estimates, further aggregation of disparate indicators would require normative value judgement. Despite difficulty of aggregation, the assessment shows that impacts receive a different contribution of different animal sectors. While some of our results are country-specific, the overall approach is generic and can be adapted and tuned according to specific contexts and information needs in ...